CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSSOn 11 November 1942, during the Long Patrol, companies of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion sent out aggressive patrols between the villages of Binu and Asamana, Guadalcanal. When Company C ran into strong resistance near Asamana itself, battalion commander LtCol. Evans Carlson ordered Companies E and D to their support.

Privates First Class Frank S. Mercado and LeRoy I. Fanslow were part of the point squad of Company D when the Japanese sprang an ambush. Both Marines were instantly killed, and the rest of the patrol scattered for cover. The point squad was cut off and spent several hours evading the Japanese before reaching safety.

Biography:
Coming soon. Contact the webmaster for information on this Marine.

Capt. Charles P. McAuliffe led his 40 man patrol across another open grassy field and ran head-on into large units of the enemy well hidden in the heavy jungle. The Raiders found themselves caught in the open field with the enemy well concealed in the jungle to their front and both right and left flanks. Two leaders in the point were immediately killed and a third wounded. The slain Raiders were PFC LeRoy I. Fanslow and a big Indian BAR man named PFC Frank S. Mercado.
– Lowell V. Bulger, “The Second Raider Battalion on Guadalcanal, Part III: 4 November – 15 December 1942,” in The Raider Patch, September 1981.